Deadline extended for Flushing Line CBTC work

Completion of Communications-Based Train Control (CBTC) on MTA New York City Transit's No. 7 Flushing Line has been delayed from the fourth quarter of 2016 until the second quarter of 2017, New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority has acknowledged.

The project, the second such CBTC installation in New York's subway system, is still "within budget of $550 million," MTA noted. Thales Group is overseeing the project.

CBTC installation work has affected (sometimes halted) weekend service on the No. 7 line throughout the fall, with work in Manhattan's Time Square area being fairly intense. Such Service disruptions are expected to continue indefinitely.

"We understand that these service changes are an inconvenience and temporarily alter the way you travel, but the work is necessary for the modernization and improvement of the line," MTA says in a notice to users of the line, which connects Midtown Manhattan with Queens points.

MTA said the delay was caused in part due to damage inflicted by SuperStorm Sandy in October 2012 on the Culver Line Test Track in Brooklyn, put in place by Thales and Siemens to test CBTC. That problem, in turn, has delayed testing of NYCT's R188 subway cars, which are designated for use on the No. 7 line once CBTC is in place.

MTA NYCT activated CBTC on its L Line (Canarsie Line) linking Manhattan and Brookyn, in February 2009.